Actuation of slender thin-wall anisotropic open cross-section beams based on asymptotically-correct Vlasov theory

摘要

An asymptotically-correct analysis of passive anisotropic thin-wall open cross-section beam-like structures using the Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM) is extended to include embedded Active Fibre Composites (AFCs). Application of the VAM splits the problem into nonlinear one-dimensional (ID) theory along the selected beam reference line and linear 2D generalized 5×5 Vlasov theory augmented by a 5×1 actuation vector over the cross-section. The linear 2D cross-sectional theory is verified against the University of Michigan/Variational Beam Sectional Analysis (UM/VABS) software and applied to examples of the aforementioned structures with practical cross-sectional geometry and material anisotropy under DC actuating voltage. The theory is shown to be easily implemented and efficient, yet reliable enough to perform interdisciplinary studies and analysis of various engineering applications of such structures.